Anxious Free Living – Matthew 6:25-34

I sat across from pure contentment, yesterday. My friend described how at work his desire to move to a position of greater leadership had been stymied over and over by a boss who didn’t like him. She had even lied to his immediate boss about his latest interview for a new job in the company when the boss asked why my friend didn’t get the job. But my friend knew who was in control of his life. God had provided for him in every way and though it was disappointing not to be able to demonstrate his abilities and even increase his salary, he was not anxious. God was directing his life.

Isn’t this what Jesus said was available to all of us, this anxious-free life?

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:25-34 ESV)

Anxiety if a human plague.  It is one of our most uncomfortable experiences but it springs from our failure to realize who is in control.  Though we might deny that we think we can make happen whatever needs to happen in our lives, that is the way we live all the time.  Anxiety is the proof of that.  It is also the proof that we aren’t too sure that God will take care of us, so it is up to us to take care of ourselves.

To his disciples and to us Jesus lays this charge: “O you of little faith.” Why is it so hard to trust that our God loves us?

Jesus makes two cases: (1) that God values us above all His other creatures and so will make sure that we have our necessities, and (2) that our anxiety cannot change anything.  His challenge to us who have entered into kingdom relationship with the Father is to act like it, not like the “Gentiles” (here used for unbelievers in general).  We should seek God’s kingdom above all things and rest in the promise that God will give us everything we need.  We are made in His image and have thus been commanded to work.  Idleness is not the answer.  But neither is anxiety.  Let each day’s trouble be sufficient for that day.  Don’t borrow trouble from tomorrow but trust in God to care for you.

How would your life change if you trusted in God’s care this way?